Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 82282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
“Hey, baby. Why haven’t you come to bed yet?” He rasped against my neck.
“My sister had a crisis. I just got back and met your friend here.” I answered breathily.
My nipples had pebbled, pressing against the thin tank top I was wearing determinedly.
The pad of his thumb swiped against the turgid peak once before he withdrew.
“Friend? Where?” He asked and stood, finally making eye contact with the very pissed off woman sitting across the table from me. “Oh. Hey, Bree. How’s it going? What are you doing here?”
“The hospital called. You still have me listed as an emergency contact.” She snapped.
“Oh, well I’ll have to get that fixed.” He said dismissively.
My lips spread into a cat-ate-the-canary smile, being sure to show the other woman the whites of my teeth.
“It’s okay. You can leave me on there if you would like. I always told you you’d get hurt on that job, though.”
Of course the woman had to pull the ‘I told you so’ card.
Fucking bitch.
“For your information, I wasn’t hurt on the job.” He growled.
To stall the inevitable firestorm, I diverted Trance’s attention.
“I’m really sorry, but I just realized that the pups were still in their cages. I exercised them and fed them. Is there anything else you want me to do with them?” I asked.
Trance’s eyes finally broke from the woman’s stare, and he glanced at me before looking back at the dogs. “No, baby, you did good. You about ready for bed? I’m beat.”
I nodded and stood. “It was nice meeting you Bree.”
“Hey, can I stay in our guest room?” Bree called to our retreating backs, making Trance freeze.
“No, because Miller is staying in my guest room and Foster’s staying on the couch. We have no room for you.”
With that he turned, grabbed my hand, and led me into the bedroom before slamming the door.
“God I hate that woman sometimes.” He growled, pacing the small room.
“What happened with her?” I asked softly, taking a seat on the bed.
His hand went to his hair, but he stopped, wincing when his hand met the tender spot.
“I was running through my regular beat about five years ago when I pulled into a parking lot that two cars had used to do their drug deal. I walked up to them, asked for licenses and registration. For some reason I didn’t let the dog out of the car,” he said shaking his head wildly. “That was one of the biggest mistakes of my life, not doing that. When I turned to go back to my car, one of the men pulled a knife and sliced my back open from hip to hip. I shot them both. Killed them both with one shot to the heart. I nearly bled out though. Woke up in the hospital three days later pissing blood with kidney lacerations and a note from Bree.”
I thought about what he was telling me, what he hadn’t said. “She left you while you were in the hospital, didn’t she?”
He sat down on the bed roughly. “She refused to even talk to me after that. Moved her shit out of our house and never spoke to me again. Emptied our bank account, even tried to take Radar. That didn’t last long, though, since I needed him for work.”
He smiled through his remembered pain, but I could tell the memory of her still cut him to the bone. “Is this the first time you saw her since then?”
He grimaced. “No, we’ve seen each other in passing. Normally she flips me off and goes about her business. Sometimes I see her eating lunch with some of our old friends.”
“How...childish.” I said with a shake of my head.
He shrugged, as if the entire thing was just a moment in time that mattered little to him.
Then all of the things started to click in place. That’s why he didn’t get close, why he was with Tillie. She was easy, and wouldn’t expect more from him than he was willing to give.
Right then, I made a promise to myself. I would make sure to prove every one of his notions wrong. I wouldn’t be like that for him. I would be someone he could count on to talk through his troubles. If he had a bad day at work, I wanted to be the one he came to speak to if he ever needed me.
Starting now.
“What do you want me to do?” I asked softly.
He shook his head again. Which seemed to be the only thing he was capable of doing. “Nothing. I just want to go to bed. Forget she ever even showed.”
He didn’t hold me that night, and he was gone the next morning when I woke up.
His side of the bed was cold, and hadn’t been slept in in hours.
Even his brothers weren’t there.
But then I got a message, and it changed my whole outlook on the day.
Game on, Trance. Game on.
Chapter 12
When a police officer asks, ‘have you been drinking,’ a good reply is not, ‘are you buying.’
-Viddy, Note to self
Trance
“What are you still doing here?” I asked Bree.
We were sitting in the diner, and I was in the very last place in the world I wanted to be.
“I made a mistake.” Bree whispered gravely.
“What kind of a mistake?” I asked taking a sip of my coffee.
“One where I haven’t stopped thinking about you since I left you in the hospital torn up by a knife.” She sniffled.
A lone tear slipped down her perfectly made up face, and I had to suppress the urge to wipe it away. She knew tears always did me in. Every single time, without fail.
Hell, she’d used them on me a lot during our relationship.
‘Don’t go to work today, Trance. I have a bad feeling.’ She’d say nearly every day.
Over time, I’d gotten to the point of just acting like I didn’t see the tears, going to work with a sickness inside of me, knowing I was hurting my fiancé greatly. However, my job was very important to me.
“Listen,” I said. “I know you may think you want to get back together, but I still have the same job. You’d end up in the same predicament that you left me with.”